Timor Island: A Poem by Yohanes Manhitu

Pah Timor

Pah Timor, pah amasat.
Ho kanme lo nfomèn
onlê haumenî afomenib pah.

Ho kanme matekâ
nâko batan ntea batan,
nâko kuan talantea kota,
nâko ‘nuüf talantea tasi-ninen.
Sekau es ka nahín fa ho kanam?

Oras neno nsae, ho mmeûsín
onlê noinmutî aklimâ,
ma oras neno ntés,
ho mmolok onlê mnatû apinat.

Atoni nâko neonsaet, neontés,
nâko knaben-ahinet
talantea knaben-amonot
nahín ho sekau ko.

Pah Timor, ho es ainaf ko
neu kanan ho sufam ma ho kaüm.
Mönen henait ho suf’in
a-nnaon nsasuna pah-pinan
ma oke-te nfainnéman
he nâlatan ho kanam!
Ò Pah Timor, pah amasat,
pah afomenit.

Yogyakarta, 4 Funboës 2002

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Timor Island

Timor island, beautiful island.
Your name is as fragrant
as sandalwood
granting fragrance to the island.

Your name is called
from generation to generation,
from the village to the town;
from the mountain to the seashore
Who does not know your name?

When the sun rises,
you are as bright as silver;
and when the sun sets,
you are as shiny as gold.

Men from the east, from the west,
from the south,
and the north
 know who you are.

Timor island, you are the mother
of your descendants.
Pray so that they go from one country to another
and then come home
to praise your name!
Oh Timor island, the island of beauty,
the island of fragrance.